People Who Can't Stand CNN's Kaitlan Collins (& What They Have To Say About Her)

A Routine Briefing Turns Volcanic

It was supposed to be just another White House press briefing—a few polite questions, a few practiced answers. Instead, it exploded into a full-blown showdown when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins dared to poke the bear on Russia, Rubio, and the ghosts of collusion past. The stakes? Nothing less than the credibility of the entire intelligence community—and the president’s inner circle.

Director Gabbard, steely-eyed and unflinching, took center stage. The room braced for spin. What they got was a verbal sledgehammer.

The Question That Lit the Fuse

Collins, never one to shy from the heat, fired off two questions that cut straight to the bone.
First: Was Secretary Marco Rubio wrong back in 2017, when he said there was no evidence of Russian collusion but undeniable Russian meddling?
Second: Was Director Gabbard only releasing new intelligence now to curry favor with a president who’d publicly questioned her judgment?

The room tensed. Reporters leaned in. This was no softball.

Director Gabbard’s Retort: Facts, Not Fables

Gabbard’s response was swift and unsparing. She drew a sharp line between the Senate Intelligence Committee and her own office—two very different beasts, she reminded everyone. “The evidence and the intelligence that has been declassified and released is irrefutable,” she declared, her voice slicing through the speculation.

She tossed the Rubio question to Caroline, but not before making her own position clear: There’s a world of difference between finding Russian meddling and pinning collusion on the president. The outrage, she insisted, was never about Russia’s interference—it was about the “narrative” spun by the intelligence community and the media, a narrative that painted the president and his family as traitors without proof.


Rubio, the FBI, and the Dossier That Wouldn’t Die

Caroline picked up the thread, reminding the room of Rubio’s own words in 2020. Yes, Russia meddled. No, there was never evidence of collusion. But the real scandal, she said, was the FBI’s willingness to run with the infamous Steele Dossier—“cooked up and paid for by the Clinton campaign”—and treat it as gospel. The press, she added with a pointed glance, had been all too eager to play along.

Political analyst Dr. Evan Matthews weighed in: “This was a classic case of the White House flipping the script. Instead of defending, they went on offense—reminding everyone of the media’s own missteps and the shaky foundation of the collusion narrative.”

A Not-So-Subtle Swipe at the Press

The real fireworks came when Collins pressed on the timing of the document release. Was this just a ploy to get back in the president’s good graces?

Caroline didn’t flinch. “Who is saying that? The only people suggesting Director Gabbard is releasing evidence to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room,” she shot back, her gaze icy. “And it’s not working.”

The message was clear: The White House was done playing defense. The press, not the administration, was sowing chaos and distrust.

The President’s Confidence—And the Press Corps’ Frustration

As the tension peaked, Caroline delivered the final blow: “I am with the president every day. He has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard. He always has. He continues to, and that is true of his entire cabinet.”

The briefing room fell silent. The White House had drawn a line in the sand—no more apologies, no more backpedaling. Only unity, only resolve.

Veteran correspondent Linda Sharpe summed it up: “This was the White House at its most combative. They didn’t just shut down Kaitlan Collins—they shut down the entire narrative that’s haunted this administration for years.”

Aftershocks: The Media and the Message

Within minutes, clips of the exchange were viral. Twitter lit up. Hashtags trended. The usual suspects lined up on cable news—some crying foul, others applauding the administration’s new backbone.

But one thing was undeniable: The White House had flipped the script. For once, it wasn’t the press grilling the administration. It was the administration grilling the press.

In the end, the outrage wasn’t about Russia. It was about who gets to control the story. And on this day, the White House made it clear—they’re writing their own headlines now.